MORUYA’S Enid Booker has always taken a more-the-merrier approach to her favourite hobby, singing.
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“I enjoyed singing as a child in Sunday school and in school choirs in primary and high schools,” she said.
“I never sang solo; it was always with a choir. I don’t carry a tune well enough to sing solo.
“I only sing alone when I’m in traffic at the lights, and with the radio at home.
“With the breathing, it makes you feel good.”
Mrs Booker gets plenty of opportunity to sing in company as she is a member of both the Moruya and Batemans Bay Sing Australia choirs.
A career as a teacher got in the way of her enjoyment of singing for many years.
She lived in the Blue Mountains and studied at Sydney Teachers College, and the required commuting meant she had no time for singing.
“I had a boyfriend at the time and I spent time with him rather than singing,” she said.
Mrs Booker moved to Moruya in 1970 with her husband and two daughters, and was able to rekindle her passion for singing.
“I joined a choir here that met once a week,” she recalled.
“It was lovely; I really enjoyed it. The other members were supportive even though they were better singers than me.
“We would meet at one of the ladies’ houses and perform at art gallery openings and similar events.”
The choir folded but in 2000 Mrs Booker joined Moruya’s Sing Australia choir.
“They told me that they had (song) books, and I didn’t have to learn the words,” she said.
“They said that if you were unable to stand, then you could sit. They said that it was important that people enjoyed singing because it is good for your health, and it is.”
Batemans Bay Sing Australia started the following year and she has been involved with both ever since.
Sing Australia has enabled Mrs Booker to take her passion far and wide.
“We have had national gatherings at Canberra, Melbourne and Broken Hill,” she said.
Her favourite singing memory is singing on the steps of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra six years ago.
“I was in the centre next to 200 altos,” she said.
“It was fabulous; a real highlight.”
Sing Australia Moruya meets at the Moruya Uniting Church on Fridays at 1pm and Sing Australia Batemans Bay meets at the CWA hall in Batehaven at 1pm on Tuesday.
The Bay Post/Moruya Examiner profiles the hobbies of people in our community each week in the feature, ‘Get on your hobbyhorse’. Do you have an interesting hobby? Email journalist Josh Gidney at josh.gidney@fairfaxmedia.com.au or phone him at 4472 6577.
